In order to achieve the goal of returning to the moon by 2025, the United States has set up a manned moon landing program called "Artemis". Now, this manned moon landing program has made new progress after the US announced its postponement. According to Guangming.com August 17, as a crucial part of the plan, NASA released the latest news that it had transported the "Space Launch System" (SLS) super heavy rocket to the launch pad on the evening of August 16 local time and will conduct its first test flight on August 29.
SLS heavy rocket located on the launch pad
NASA moon landing super heavy rocket is about to usher in its first flight
According to reports, the launch vehicle is known as the most powerful launch vehicle in the United States. The Orion spacecraft that will be launched on August 29 will perform a 42-day Artemis-1 unmanned flight test mission around the moon. Previously, SLS was postponed because of a fuel leak in the transmitter during the ignition test. In case, NASA has also specially formulated two other launch windows for this launch. If the launch is delayed again due to weather or slight technical problems, it will be launched again on September 2 and September 5.
The United States’ manned moon landing plan was approved and started to be implemented when Trump was in office. The Artemis-1 unmanned moon flight test mission is actually a so-called early survey stage, and there will be other subsequent models in the later stage to carry out additional manned moon landing plans. According to the United States' plan, they will build a lunar portal space station near the lunar orbit around 2024, and allow American astronauts to land on the moon around 2025.
10 cube satellites inside the rocket
In this test flight mission, NASA will carry three human models equipped with instruments and 10 cube satellites to travel together. These satellites will be used to detect the radiation environment of the moon, asteroids and deep space. So far, NASA has prepared for this mission to return to the moon and is beginning to look forward to its effectiveness after launch.
China Aerospace achieved a new breakthrough in the manned moon landing stage
When the manned moon landing program was carried out in the United States, China's lunar exploration project also made considerable progress. The difference between and American Airlines goals is that China's manned moon landing plan has always been steady and has formulated many different planning stages, focusing more on long-term sustainable development. At present, my country's manned lunar landing plan is also mainly concentrated in the early stage of unmanned exploration. The Chang'e-1 to Chang'e-5 carrier rockets independently developed by my country have completed their established missions and brought them back to the lunar soil from the moon for further research by scientific researchers. In the future, Chang'e will continue to carry out lunar exploration projects from 6 to 8, laying a solid foundation for China's manned lunar landing plan so that China can steadily realize the manned lunar landing plan before 2030.
Long March rocket carrying the Chang'e-5 spacecraft was launched at the Wenchang Center in Hainan.
Not long ago, the 702nd Institute of the First Academy of China Aeronautics and Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation had just completed an important experiment of a "new generation manned launch vehicle". According to Zhu Xiquan, deputy chief designer of of 702, the research and development of rocket has broken through 13 major key technologies, greatly surpassing the Long March 5 rocket, which is now in service. Its takeoff weight is about 2,000 tons, and it can directly send a 25 tons payload into the Moon orbit, or 70 tons of payload into the low-Earth orbit. and currently, the near-Earth carrying capacity of Long March 5 is only 25 tons. It can be seen that this breakthrough in rocket technology, , will likely help my country obtain the ability to land manned moon by 2030.
Can China rush to the United States to achieve manned moon landing?
However, a huge aerospace project like returning to the moon must first have an heavy rocket . The core thrust of the SLS super heavy rocket comes from two solid fuel boosters, and its thrust of a single unit can reach 1,600 tons, and its carrying capacity is similar to that of my country's 921 rocket. But compared with my country's Long March 5, NASA's super heavy rocket is simply a rocket version of the space shuttle . It can lift the Long March 5 with just one booster.
US "Artemis" manned moon landing plan map
After comparison, you will find that Although the United States has returned to the moon again after more than half a century, it has to admit that the United States' ability in aerospace is still very powerful. After all, my country's development in the aerospace field started late. When the United States achieved a moon landing, its first artificial satellite, , had just been successfully launched. Moreover, the time for landing on the moon planned by my country is 2030, which does not mean that my country must wait until 2030 to have the ability to land on the moon. The development of anything has a process. It will take many years for any aerospace project to be completed. The difficulties to be overcome are far more complicated than we imagined. Looking at my country's aerospace development, we have achieved the established goals step by step.
(Text: Wang Yajing Reviewed: Battle Knife)
